Maggie's Farm

How Extreme Enviros Endangered NO

Thanks to Mark Levin, here is the sad story of how environmental activists scuttled the 1977 New Orleans hurricane barrier project. The following is from the website of Save Our Wetlands, Inc. (S.O.W.L.).

LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN HURRICANE BARRIER PROJECT

During the same time period the Corps was also pursuing the development of a Corps’ project called the Lake Pontchartrain and Vicinity Hurricane Barrier Project. This plan proposed to build a billion dollar dam stretching from Fort Pike to the Rigolets under the guise of hurricane flood protection. This area is approximately one mile wide and is one the entrances of to the Gulf of Mexico. The proposed project would have created hundreds of millions of dollars in dredging contracts. This pork-barrel project was the brain child of U.S. Congressman F. Edward Hebert. Had this proposed project been undertaken it would have destroyed the wetlands of New Orleans east and promoted further housing development in extremely low-lying hurricane susceptible areas. The project also would have destroyed the ecology of Lake Pontchartrain by causing it to become stagnant.

. . .

What the Corps really wanted was the construction of the billion dollar barrier/dam across the Rigolets at Fort Pike, and the hundreds of millions of dollars in dredging contracts it would create.

. . .

The United States Army Corps of Egineer's [sic] Lake Pontchartrain and Vicinity Hurricane Barrier Project had the potential to make Lake Pontchartrain a stagnant body of water, which would have negatively affected its productivity. Under the guise of hurricane protection, this project was not only going to destroy Lake Pontchartrain but was in fact going to drain the wetlands of New Orleans East and promote development in these newly drained areas, regardless of the fact that they would have been highly susceptible to flooding due to hurricane tidal surges. This project was also going to create hundreds of millions of dollars in dredging contracts for F. Edward Herbert political supporters and for the cronies of the Orleans Levee Board. Judge Charles Schwartz ordered the Corps not to intimidate, threaten, or in any way jeopardize the job security of Glen Montz, for telling the truth.

After three days of testimony and hearing Judge Charles Schwartz stated from the bench that Save Our Wetlands had proven her [sic] case and ordered defendants to sit down and negotiate with Save Our Wetlands a type of solution and compromise. Save Our Wetlands spent an entire day communicating with counsel for the defendants in attempting to obtain a compromised injunction on these barriers. This discussion lasted into the night. At 10 p.m. all parties met in Judge Charles Schwartz chambers Save Our Wetlands was of the impression that the defendants would agree to cease all of their operations on the construction of the Hurricane Barrier Project.

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Judge Charles Schwartz orders the Army Corps of Engineers to do a new Environmental Impact Study on the Lake Pontchartrain and Vicinity Hurricane Barrier Project. During the trial one of the key arguments of Save Our Wetlands was that alternative hurricane protection measures should be considered including building up preexisting levees. The new EIS conducted by the Corps concludes that building up the existing levees is in fact a better alternative to the Hurricane Barrier Project. The end result of this litigation is that the wetlands of New Orleans East were saved and the Bayou Savauge National Wildlife Refuge was created.

An interesting side note is when the attorney for Save Our Wetlands went before Judge Schwartz to obtain attorney fees. Judge Charles Schwartz agreed, in his injunction that the Corps of Engineers lied to the public. However, now he tells the Save Our Wetlands attorney that, “he is interested in ‘fish’ and ‘birds’ while the Corps was interested in the welfare of the people.”

The Save Our Wetlands attorney says "how can you possibly talk to me that way after all we have proven." Judge Charles Schwartz says, “I have been waiting to hold you in contempt of court for sometime, one more peep out of you and you will go to jail.” The Save Our Wetlands attorney collected no fees for the time and energy he invested in saving the wetlands of New Orleans East and the entire Lake Maurapus, Pontchartrain, Catherine, Bornge, ecosystem. Many people in this litigation are now dead and even though Save Our Wetlands did not recieve any monetary compensation SOWL's legacy lives on and on within the heart and spirit of every man, woman, child, bird, red fish, speckle trout, croakers, etc.